Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

I hope that you found my site because of Dice Masters, HeroClix, board games, or just superheroes in general! While I like a variety of different games, my main love is Dice Masters and I’m here to help other players grow. I’m not an expert and I’m not affiliated with WizKids, but I like to think that I have enough knowledge that I can do some good.

First, I want to be sure that all of you potential Dice Masters out there have links to various resources, official and unofficial. As my HeroClix followers grow, I’ll add another section for HeroClix links!

Official Links

Dice Masters Rules ForumI use the Wizkids Forums to find rulings or at least a base for rulings. That’s one of the most important sites out there!Wizkids Official Rules Forum (WORF) HomeThis is the Forum Home Index. They have the rules forums for all their games here.Wizkids Info Network
The Wizkids Info Network is where you need to sign up so that you can play in events at your friendly local gaming store (FLGS) and find tons of other info.Wizkids HomeThis is Wizkids’ home page. If you don’t know already, they make Dice Masters.WizKids Keywords Page
This is an official comprehensive list of all the Keywords in Dice Masters.WizKids YouTube
For all of their official videos – check out their YouTube!

Community Links

There are so many sites out there for Dice Masters, and I’m honored you’re looking at mine! There is just too much information out there to be shared and I want to share a few of my favorite sites (in no particular order). If you think your site should be on here, or you know of another site that’s not here and should be, let me know!

True Mister Six Blog
A fellow blogger and long time blogging buddy! I’ve been blessed to have such an awesome friend as my one of my earliest (and I think my first) follower!The Reserve Pool
TRP has several different podcasts and is a wonderful resource site for any player.Double Burst Website and Facebook
This is a great resource for new players and veterans alike! I’ve enjoyed their podcast and recommend it for any Dice Master out there.Dice Masters Reddit
This is a forum where you can trade and discuss everything Dice Masters!DM Retrobox
This site is great for team building and researching cards.Pro Dice Circuit
This is an unofficial tournament group – first to implement a rotation in Dice Masters as well as localized competitive draft events.DM Armada YouTube
You can find all kinds of videos on this site, from unboxings to gameplay strategies. Definitely worth checking out.The Dice Tower with Tom Vasel
The Dice Tower covers all kinds of games, not just Dice Masters. Tom Vasel is the dude that covers all the Dice Masters reviews and I’ve seen much of his other work – he’s an inspiration when it comes to the video part of my work! Be sure to give their channel a peek.

Sellers of Nifty Accessories

These are folks that I have ordered accessories from and have reviews up for their products.

The 3D Geekery
They have a lots of 3D printed goodies for Dice Masters and Board Games too! They even do custom orders that are non-game related. Check them out! Their Dice Masters storage units are amazing! You can also type in the3dgeekery.com and it will take you straight to their Facebook page.Litko Game Accessories
Dice towers and tokens galore!Turn One Gaming Supplies
Seller of awesome sleeves and if you want a Roll Master Mat, they have them.PlaymatMasters on Etsy
Want an awesome custom playmat design? Check this dude out!Inked Gaming
Have a playmat design but need it printed? This is who I use.

About Me and My Blog

The first time I ever did an ‘article’ was on July 18, 2015 in our local Dice Masters group on Facebook about Captain Cold: Leonard Wynters. It didn’t take long for me to realize that Facebook wasn’t the best place for publishing articles. I dug up an old WordPress site I’d started and hadn’t done anything with and began transferring my previous articles. My Dice Dice Kitty persona was born at that moment on November 8, 2015 and has spread to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

My blog is primarily about Dice Masters, but I’ve grown it to include HeroClix, Board Games, and other various superhero related material. I’m also a huge fan of My Little Pony and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, so you’ll see I use lots of screen shots from those IPs for article pictures and other various things. If I go to a convention and take cosplay pictures, you’ll likely see them in the sidebar from Instagram or Twitter.

I try to focus my articles and videos on reviews, unboxings, rules help, strategies, and accessory ideas but I’m always open to suggestions! I am always looking for Confusing Card of the Week suggestions, so don’t be shy – drop me a line! I know some folks are worried that they’ll be made fun of or laughed at because they don’t understand how something works. I do not promote those elitist type attitudes and I do not tolerate others that make those types of remarks. This is a safe place to ask sincere questions. We’re all here to learn and we’re all on different levels of understanding in regards to how things work in Dice Masters. I want to help each player elevate their understanding of the game in any way that I can.

I hope folks find my reviews helpful and informational. When it comes to my reviews, I do not play favorites with companies and I always give my honest opinion. My opinion is not fact, of course, but it is at least another perspective to take into consideration when it comes to products that folks want to spend their hard earned money on. I encourage everyone to seek out multiple reviews for a product so that they have as much information and perspective as possible!

Basic Rules

I keep my private life out of my blog, so you won’t see articles about politics or religion. This is not the place for it, so I do not condone any political or religious related content – regardless of any good intentions.

I do not approve of anything obscene, vulgar, or offensive being posted in comments on any of the sites I host from.

I don’t like folks being mean to each other. There is enough cruelty in the world and I don’t want it on any of my content. Please, express your negativity in a more constructive way and don’t direct it at anyone.

Please, do not spread rumors about other players or WizKids. Even if you have proof of a player being less than honorable, I am not the person to speak to. I do not ‘call out‘ folks on any of my social media outlets. I also do not allow players to bash WizKids on my outlets. We all get frustrated, but being rude doesn’t get anything accomplished.

Contacting Me

While I have folks from the community on my private Facebook page, I do not share my private social media pages with everyone. I have a Facebook page (Kitty Masters) that I use to share my content on Facebook. If you message Kitty Masters, you will not get a response. You can contact me through email at dicedicekitty@gmail.com or on my official blog Facebook page,here.

Closing

I hope that you find at least one thing you enjoy or that is of interest to you in my content. I’m so thankful that you visited my site and I appreciate all the likes, followers, and subscribers for taking that extra step and hitting those buttons. The bigger my sites get, the better variety of content I can provide!

If you’re looking for my old rating system, you can find it in my original intro article, here. I have retired that rating system and now do an Opinion and Strategy section instead.

Have an idea for a team?Have a card you’re confused about?Want to see an article about something?Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty.

Greetings Fellow Clix Fans!

We just had our Star Trek Away Team release event on Sunday and it was a blast! We were only able to get three folks to come up for the event, but this didn’t dampen our spirits at all! I don’t think it’s a great idea for WizKids to release so much product in such a short time like they’ve been doing for both Dice Masters and HeroClix. It makes it hard enough on players in only one of those communities, but for those of us that play both – it’s practically impossible to keep up with both like this.

But regardless, I’m still super happy that we now have Star Trek pieces that are legal for Modern Age play! I recorded all the matches of the day, which you can find on my YouTube channel, here.

Our event was a 300 point sealed event, and we only used the maps from the OP kit. We were given a D10 and rolled to see which two boosters we got. This is the team I put together from my two boosters:

I also had this guy on my Sideline for Charvanek’s Plot ability.

I also pulled a Bele and Lokai, but chose to not use them because I felt like Chekov and Charvanek were better with their regular Probability Control abilities.

Round One – Bye!

Time to throw popcorn from the spectator seat! Just ‘horsing’ around. No popcorn was thrown and I was well behaved.

You can watch all the shenanigans of Chris and Travis who played on the featured table in round one.

Record: 1-0-0

Round Two vs Travis F.

Travis and I had a good match, though he tends to get a little frustrated with his dice rolls. But then again, who doesn’t? He had several bad rolls that could have changed the course of the game and I had several good rolls that helped me get the edge. I also had two pieces with Probability Control that helped me out, where he wasn’t so lucky. You can watch us play on the featured match for round two.

Record: 2-0-0

Round Three vs Chris E.

Chris is a formidable opponent every time I play against him. He has good strategic and tactical sense and it sometimes diverts me from what I was planning. We had a really great match and had lots of fun playing with our teams. He was very difficult to defeat, and had he been able to keep one piece (other than the Tribbles) alive, he may have found a way to victory. You can watch us play on the featured match for round three.

Record: 3-0-0Final Standing: 1st

Prizes

First place and fellowship both got the Evil Kirk figure. I won one and Chris won the fellowship one. Travis forfeited his fellowship roll because he’s my husband and I was already going to get one – I don’t think it’s nice for someone to try and monopolize prizing.

We all made off with a copy of the map as well! The Amok Time is an Outdoor map and the Underground Cavern is an Indoor map. Amok Time is from the episode (also titled Amok Time) where Kirk and Spock fought ‘to the death’. It’s a classic episode and I’m tickled it’s a map! The Underground Cavern is from the episode, The Devil in the Dark, which is the feature episode for the Horta. That’s one of my favorite episodes, so when I saw this map, I squealed like a fan girl! You should be able to click the images below to get a better look at the maps.

Conclusion

I’ve already had the privilege of playing constructed teams with some of these pieces and now I have a sealed event to add to that. I really love this set! It may be because I know all the characters and I love the Star Trek Universe as a whole, but I’ve never had so much fun with the whole of a HeroClix set. I love the Ninja Turtle sets and there are great pieces in those sets, but there is something – different – about this set that draws me in.

All of the pieces are thematic to their small screen counterparts and the factions work together the way they should. A great example of this is how the Romulans are backstabbing aliens, so one of the key pieces has Mastermind throughout most of her dial. The Starfleet pieces enhance each other and the Klingons do not want to hide in the hindering terrain. The different aliens are all special and thematic to how they’re portrayed in the show. There are so many great examples like how the M-113 Creature steals life; the Mugato adds action tokens or deals damage if it can’t add a token; the Orions seduce and Mind Control; and the Horta is not bothered by indoor blocking terrain. I think there are many great pieces that could find a way into a more broad spotlight. Trelane and the rare Uhura are both really nice pieces that could find places on various teams.

I thoroughly enjoyed this sealed event, and not because I won. Anyone that knows me will tell you that as long as I can put up a decent fight, I’ll have fun and enjoy the game. I just got lucky with my pulls in this event. Charvanek, Uhura, and Chekov are all amazing sealed pieces. The Orion Female is another crazy good piece – as you’ll see if you watch my match against Chris (Bones, I’m so sorry!). I can’t wait to mix and match these with some of my TMNT pieces – or my Bombshells!

Thank you, WizKids! You have made this Trekkie very happy and I hope to see more Star Trek sets from other shows and even more from TOS – there are more dudes that would be great pieces!

Thanks for reading and please remember to like, follow, and subscribe so that I can continue to bring you HeroClix and Dice Masters related content!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look atKobold Trap: Greater Trapfrom the Dungeons and Dragons: Tomb of Annihilation set.

Ruling – Keywords and Ability

“Trap (Place in your Field Zone when used. Send to your Used Pile when triggered.)Trigger: Your opponent fields an Adventurer character die.Effect: Purchase one of your character dice with Swarm for free and place it into your bag.”

Keyword Definitions

Kobold Trap has the Trap keyword. WizKids Keywords Page:“Traps: Traps are action dice that move to the Field Zone when used, and stay there until Triggered. When the criteria of the Trap die’s Trigger is met, you must immediately send the die to your Used Pile and use its Effect.”

The definition for Adventurer can be found on the Keywords page:
“Adventurer: Any character with the Experience ability.“

How To Use/Trigger This Trap

When you use a Trap die, you place it into the Field Zone. This is considered ‘using’ it for card abilities that reference using an action die. It will only leave the Field Zone if its effect is triggered or another card ability can remove an action die.

When the ability is triggered, you must send the trap to the Used Pile. This is not an optional ability. When a trap is triggered, it will grant you its effect.

When an opponent fields any Adventurer character die, you will trigger all of your Kobold Traps in the Field Zone. For each of your Kobold Traps that are triggered, you can purchase a character die for free, so long as it has the Swarm keyword.

The die you purchase must be from one of your cards, and the die is free, meaning you do not need to spend any energy.

After you purchase the character die, you must put that die into your bag.

Kobold Trap is a non-basic action die. Anything that affects action dice could affect this die. If the effect says ‘Basic Action’, it would not apply to Kobold Trap.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Kobold Trap is a Fist type non-basic action card.
~ It has no affiliation, but has the Neutral alignment.
~ It has a max dice of four.
~ This card is an Uncommon and is #74 of 136.

Official Sources

You can find the cross IP compatibility wording, here.
You can find more info about specific Keywords on the WizKids Keywords page.

Turn Order Summary Reference

Strategy and Opinion

I think this card is great if you use it within the set, or even in a limited Dungeons and Dragons event. All three D&D sets are loaded with great Adventurer cards so it’s likely you would get some use from this card within the D&D IP. I’m not certain it’ll be used much outside of limited constructed or sealed/draft type events though. The major meta doesn’t have any highly used Adventurers except for Dwarf Wizard: Paragon Zhentarim and I’ve seen less of him with the emergence of Shriek: Sonic Beam. I wouldn’t write this card off yet, especially if we see the increase use of an Adventurer card.

We have a limited constructed event coming up this Saturday and the only legal cards for the event are ones from the D&D sets. I’ve been looking at this card for my team so I can use some of the more expensive Swarm characters, like my Stirge: Epic Beast.

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Need to look up a card? Be sure to check out DM RetroBox! It’s the best searchable card database I’ve found for when I’m at the computer.

Greetings Fellow Clix Fans!

If you know me, then you know how much I love my TMNT Clix and that’s mostly all I play with. There are a few exceptions, like Doctor Strange and the DC Bombshells, but I play with what I like to play with. I have always loved the Tactics sets, but since they aren’t legal for regular events, like Modern Age stuff, I never get to play with them. I’m a huge Star Trek fan, Next Generation being my favorite, but I love the property as a whole. When I saw there was going to be an actual set, with actual dudes, I got super excited! WizKids was really nice to me and sent me the Starter and Dice & Token Pack for a preview article (here). I pre-ordered a brick of the boosters and anxiously awaited its release. Well, that happened yesterday!

I did a very clumsy (but fun!) unboxing video, which you can find on my YouTube channel, here.

Out of my brick, I pulled all of the commons and all but one uncommon. I also got six rares, three super rares, and one chase figure. I got several common and uncommon duplicates but I didn’t get duplicates of anything rare or better.

Scans

I scanned all the individually numbered cards, which you can see below. Just click on the image for a better view.

Favorites

I’m totally a Klingon at heart, so of course the Klingon pieces are going to be some of my favorites, even if they are afflicted with the Qu’Vat virus. I won’t talk about these pieces much since I’ll likely do articles on them later. Kor is probably my favorite piece out of my entire brick. I also really like the Klingon’s team ability, Klingon Empire.

Naked Time Sulu is pretty awesome, and totally playable as a regular team piece or from your Sideline. There are so many great Starfleet pieces and with the team ability, United Federation of Planets, they all get that additional +1 to their speed when they take a move action. One of my other favorite Starfleet pieces is Yeoman Rand. She is unique for good reason! Being able to give her a power action to remove an action token from an adjacent friendly Starfleet dude of 100 points or less is great! She’s only 25 points and has Willpower on her first click.

But aside from those two factions, we also have Romulans who have the team ability Romulan Star Empire. That gives them Stealth, which is very much like a Romulan, to hide and sneak around. I noticed that none of the pieces I pulled have an improved movement though. This makes it very inconvenient to hide them in hindering terrain… unless you’re using the Romulan Lieutenant! His star trait gives all friendly characters that are adjacent or have the Romulan keyword the ability to move unhindered through hindering terrain.

There are lots of generic aliens that look like loads of fun to play with. I love using Mind Control and the Orion Female has Mind Control as a star trait, plus a bonus! The target has to reduce its defense for each Seduction token on its card. They get those from the Orion Female’s other star trait which is a free action to put a Seduction token on a character within four squares and line of fine. I can’t wait to try out this piece! And everyone has likely seen the Tribbles before today. They’re just silly fun, but as a Klingon, I hope I never face them in battle!

Final Thoughts

As a Star Trek fan, this set is very thematic and should be lots of fun to play within itself. I’m not versed well enough in the current meta to know if anything is going to make a splash or not, but I’m not overly concerned with that aspect. I want to play HeroClix and I want to use pieces that are of familiar characters and that I love. Sure, superheroes are cool and I have plenty of those pieces that I like, but I absolutely love these type of sets – the ones that break away from the normal drone of ‘Superhero’ and ‘comic book’. Yes, I’m aware that Star Trek has comics too – I have quite a few Gold Key issues. But these pieces are straight from the TV show and I love that! I really hope we get sets for each of the shows.

While I understand that this set won’t be for everyone, I encourage players to try some of the pieces, even if it’s just in a sealed event. Or maybe sit down with your Trekkie friend(s) and introduce them to Clix. I have a friend that’s never bought a HeroClix product in his life – until yesterday. He bought an entire case, starter, and Dice & Token pack, just so he could learn the game and play Clix with the Star Trek dudes he loves. So, if you aren’t a fan of Star Trek, please, don’t discourage fans from checking it out. Use their love of the property to get them into this amazing world of HeroClix!

Ruling – Attune Ability

“Attune: While a character you control with Attune is active, when you use an action die, that character deals 1 damage to target player or character die (no matter how many of that character’s dice are active).”

Attune is a While Active ability. A While Active ability is one that works regardless of how many of the character’s dice are in the Field Zone. While Active abilities are like a light – it’s either on, or it’s off.

Attune triggers when you use any kind of action die, whether it’s a basic action die or a non-basic action die. Using a Continuous type action die requires you to place the die in the Field Zone from the Reserve Pool. If you activate a Continuous die’s ability from the Field Zone, this is not considered using it. For example, activating a Captain Cold’s Cold Gun: Frozen “Firearm” after it’s in the Field Zone is not considered to be the same as using it. Using it would be placing the Cold Gun die into the Field Zone from the Reserve Pool.

While a character die with Attune is active, when you use an action die, the character die with Attune will deal one damage to a target character die or player. For example, if you have three Yuan-ti Pureblood dice in the Field Zone when you use an action die, your Yuan-ti Pureblood will deal only one damage total (not three damage) to a target character die or player.

Attune abilities are mandatory and not optional. When you have an active character with Attune and you use an action die, you must deal one damage to target player or character die, even if you would be forced to target one of your character dice or yourself.

Ruling – Ability

“While Yuan-ti Pureblood is active, when you purchase an action die, trigger the Attune ability of all active character dice.”

Yuan-ti Pureblood’s ability is a While Active ability. While you have at least one Yuan-ti Pureblood die in the Field Zone, you will trigger her ability when you purchase an action die. Her ability triggers when you purchase any kind of action die, whether it’s a basic action die or a non-basic action die.

When you purchase an action die while you have an active Yuan-ti Pureblood character die, you will trigger each character die’s Attune ability. Attune abilities will only trigger once for each character, regardless of how many of that character’s dice are in the Field Zone, because Attune is a While Active ability.

For example, if you have three Yuan-ti Pureblood dice in the Field Zone, and purchase an action die, you will trigger the Attune ability of your Yuan-ti Pureblood. You will deal one damage (not three damage) to target player or character die. This is because all three dice are from the same character – your Yuan-ti Pureblood. Her Attune ability can only be triggered once, per instance, while there are any of her dice active in the Field Zone. If you were to purchase another action die, you would trigger her Attune ability a second time and deal one damage again.

This ability will also trigger the Attune ability on your opponent’s character dice. If your opponent has the same Yuan-ti Pureblood dice in the Field Zone, you still trigger her Attune ability as well as yours, because the two character cards are considered to be different characters. One is your Yuan-ti Pureblood, and the other is your opponent’s Yuan-ti Pureblood, making them different characters for game effects such as this ability.

If you trigger an opponent’s Attune ability, you do not get to choose the target of that ability because you are not in control of the ability. Triggering an ability is not the same as controlling or using the ability.

Yuan-ti Pureblood’s ability is mandatory. If you purchase an action die while she’s active, you must trigger the Attune abilities on all active character dice with Attune.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Yuan-ti Pureblood is a Bolt type character card.
~ She has the Monster affiliation and the Evil alignment.
~ She has a max dice of four.
~ This card is an Super Rare and is #132 of 136.

Official Sources

You can find the cross IP compatibility wording, here.
You can find more info about specific Keywords on the WizKids Keywords page.

Turn Order Summary Reference

Strategy and Opinion

Yuan-ti Pureblood is great for action centered teams, but if your opponent is using characters with Attune, her ability could become a nuisance for you. Her ability is still great and definitely worth trying out. She only cost two energy to purchase, but she can be blasted out of the Field Zone very easily. She’s got a defense of one on level one and level two, making her an easy target for Unstable Canister‘s Global. Her level three side is slightly safer with a defense of three, but she still falls victim to uncommon and rare Cold Guns.

I think she’ll be fun in casual play with the Satchel teams I’ve seen floating around, and she might even have a place in the major competitive meta, even though she could be troublesome against a similar team. I’m not sure I’d recommend using her as a main win condition in a draft, only because there are plenty of other characters out there with Attune and her ability could cost you in the end. But at the same time, because she’s so inexpensive, she could allow you to race your opponent to victory!

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Need to look up a card? Be sure to check out DM RetroBox! It’s the best searchable card database I’ve found for when I’m at the computer.

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look atPoison Dart Trap: Lesser Trapfrom the Dungeons and Dragons: Tomb of Annihilation set.

Ruling – Ability

“Trap (Place in your Field Zone when used. Send to your Used Pile when triggered.)Trigger: Your opponent would roll 2 or more of the same non-NPC character die at the same time.Effect: Before the roll occurs, place one of those character dice into your opponent’s Used Pile.”

“Traps: Traps are action dice that move to the Field Zone when used, and stay there until Triggered. When the criteria of the Trap die’s Trigger is met, you must immediately send the die to your Used Pile and use its Effect.”

Using this die places it into the Field Zone. It will only leave the Field Zone if its effect is triggered or another card ability removes an action die.

Poison Dart Trap is a non-basic action die. Anything that affects action dice could affect this die. If the effect says ‘Basic Action’, it would not apply to Poison Dart Trap.

When the ability is triggered, you must send the trap to the Used Pile. This is not an optional ability. When a trap is triggered, it will grant you its effect.

The term non-NPC means non-Sidekick. NPC is the wording on Dungeons and Dragons cards that means Sidekick. This applies to Ally characters, which are considered Sidekicks while in the Field Zone.

Poison Dart Trap’s trigger is when your opponent would roll two or more of the same character dice, that aren’t Sidekicks. For example, I have an active Poison Dart Trap and my opponent is about roll three Guy Gardner dice. Poison Dart Trap triggers and goes to the Used Pile. I get to choose one of the Guy Gardner dice and it goes to their Used Pile. My opponent gets to roll the other two.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Poison Dart Trap is a Bolt type non-basic action card.
~ It has no affiliation, but has the Neutral alignment.
~ It has a max dice of four.
~ This card is an Common and is #35 of 136.

Official Sources

You can find the cross IP compatibility wording, here.
You can find more info about specific Keywords on the WizKids Keywords page.

Turn Order Summary Reference

Strategy and Opinion

I like the new Trap keyword, as well as how they clarified when the trap die is actually used. I would like for other abilities, like the one on Cold Gun, to eventually be worded similar to this. That would clarify a lot of confusion over using action die and activating them.

But as for this card’s ability, it’s great against Swarm! You would be able to reduce the number of dice they roll by one, which could be a big deal. Outside of drafting, I’m not sure how much play this card will see. If Swarm characters are a pain and someone has room, they could add this card to see if it helps. It’s not expensive with a cost of three and it only needs to be in the Field Zone.

I’m don’t think this card will see major meta play, but some casual scenes probably will – especially if Swarm is big. This card could be useful in drafts as well, but only if players are drafting multiple copies of a character and using three or four of that character’s dice.

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Need to look up a card? Be sure to check out DM RetroBox! It’s the best searchable card database I’ve found for when I’m at the computer.

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

My FLGS in Dyersburg, Tennessee was lucky enough to be chosen to host a WKO for the Fall 2017 season. It was a day full of fun with friends from out of town and I hope we have an opportunity to host another in the future. We drafted from the Marvel X-Men First Class set. We had a total of nine players, four rounds, and a top cut of four. I have featured matches on my YouTube channel, here.

Oops! Mistakes Happen

I was asked a ruling question in round one, regarding Xaviers School: Unique Curriculum, which says, “Draw dice from your bag until you draw an [X-Men Affiliation] character die or your bag is empty. Prep 1 of the drawn dice, and add the rest to your Used Pile.” The question was, ‘can I refill my bag with dice in my Used Pile until I draw an X-Men character die?’ I said yes, because somehow, my eyes and brain didn’t see or register the text on the card that said “or your bag is empty”. That was totally a bad call on my part and I take full responsibility for that poor ruling. The mistake was caught in round two and I apologized to the players and the TO for my error. If you watch the featured match for round one and see an error in regards to that card, that’s what happened.

Team Lists

Round One – Rusty L.

Rusty is for the most part a local. He lives out of town, but makes it in when he can for drafts or other important events. He’s there enough that we consider him a local. Anytime Rusty and I play, we have lots of fun and this time was no different. My entire team was built using X-Men and Villain character dice. Rusty had two characters that would completely shut down my team and I didn’t realize it until it was too late. I immediately noticed his Sentinel, so I went for several X-Men early game, as well as Emma Frost to help my defend against his Boom Boom. I struggled throughout this entire game to create a field presence, but it was all in vain. Emma Frost was a double edged sword in this match. I was preventing one damage from Boom Boom, but she was leaving me completely vulnerable to Onslaught. I put up the best fight I could, but I couldn’t break through his defenses and he defeated me.

Record: 0-1-0

Round Two – Craig R.

Craig R. and I had the opportunity to play against each other, not once – but twice, at the WKO in Owensboro earlier in the year. We played against in each other in the Swiss rounds, and again in top eight where he defeated me to move on to top four. We had fun then and this time was no different. He’s a great player and definitely fun to play against because while we both take the game seriously, we’re more relaxed and are able to joke with each other and just enjoy the match. We had such a close game in this event, with the game coming down to single digit life totals and who could draw and roll what they needed. Boom Boom is a tough character to contend with and I didn’t purchase my Emma Frost until very late in the game. I don’t know that she would have helped me achieve victory, but she definitely would have slowed my defeat if I’d bought her sooner. In the end, his dice came through and he was able to defeat me for a glorious round two victory!

Record: 0-2-0

Round Three – Bailee R.

I got to play against one of my closest Dice Masters friends in round three. Bailee is strong player and I knew that her Blob could give me some trouble if he scooped up one of my important dice. I also knew Havok could be problematic for me too. I knew I needed to be careful of Avalanche, since I brought Mutation – which would help his ability. We had fun, but our dice would not cooperate with us at all. It didn’t seem like either of us could get anything we wanted or needed. We both struggled against our own dice more than we did against each other. That’s the way it goes sometimes, and because of both our bad luck, it resulted in a tie. Bailee and I always have fun with each other, regardless of dice rolls. She’s such a great person to play with and I was thrilled to see her at the event and just as happy to play against her!

Record: 0-2-1

Round Four – Bye

I scored a victory! I had to defeat the bye player for it, and with how my team had been rolling in this event, I thought the bye player might actually defeat me. But I was able to secure my one and only victory in round four!

Record 1-2-1

Final Thoughts

When Jeff, the TO, saw that there were nine players, he offered up an additional top eight prize for the ninth place spot. He also added in additional prizing in the form of boosters, based off of standings. There was an additional top four prize card that players in fifth through ninth place were allowed to roll for. Each player in those placings rolled a D20 and the highest roll won the Shocking Grasp card. This was really awesome of him to do and all the players were super nice and appreciative of the additional prizes. To Jeff, on behalf of all the locals and visitors, thank you for all you do for our community!

Well, I saw my final standing was ninth place out of nine players, but I was not disappointed in myself or the way I handled my team. I did the very best I could with what I had, but it just wasn’t enough. That’s something that I’m totally okay with because I hope for the best and prepare for the worst. I was prepared to be in last place before we were ever handed our draft bags. I’ve said this many times in many of my articles, what really matters is that you have fun! I had a lot of fun and I enjoyed seeing my fellow players from out of town and can’t wait to see them again! Thanks to Mr. Craig (Craig H.) for being so awesome and hooking me up with lots of trades.

We had several players that were planning to attend, but due to unforeseen circumstances, most of them culdn’t make it. I hate that I missed out on seeing some of our friends from out of town and I hope all is well! As for our locals, we’re very thankful that Rusty was able to make the drive up. We’re also extremely grateful to Bailee for being able to make the event before having to go straight to work right after round four. That’s some serious dedication! I hope that all my other locals are finally over whatever struck them so suddenly.

I look forward to our next event and I hope we’re able to host other WKO’s in the future! Thanks to WizKids for selecting my FLGS as a host. I’m not sure you know how much that meant to all of us.

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look atNocturne: Shadowy Lineagefrom the Marvel X-Men First Class set.

Ruling – Ability

“While Nocturne is active, the first time your opponent uses an Action die each turn, you may redirect the effect to another legal target.“

Nocturne’s ability is a While Active ability. A While Active ability is one that works regardless of how many of the character’s dice are in the Field Zone. While Active abilities are like a light – it’s either on, or it’s off.

Nocturne’s ability will only trigger the first time your opponent uses an action die each turn. Activating an action die’s ability, like Captain Cold’s Cold Gun: Frozen “Firearm”, is not considered the same as using the action die and will not trigger Nocturne’s ability.

Nocturne can only redirect the action die if there is a legal target for the action die’s ability. For example, Betrayal: Basic Action Card says, “Deal 1 damage to target opponent for each character die in their Field Zone.” If that’s the first action die your opponent uses, Nocturne cannot redirect it to your opponent because they are the one using the action die. Betrayal would still deal damage to you for each character die in your Field Zone.

Nocturne can redirect an ability from a Basic Action die or a Non-Basic Action die, because her text does not specify a type of action die.

If the action die has multiple legal targets, you may choose any legal target. For example, Power Bolt: Basic Action Card says, “Deal 2 damage to one target character or player.“ If that’s the first action die your opponent uses and they target a character die, Nocturne can redirect the effect to your opponent, another character die, or yourself. Any of those targets are legal targets for the effect of the action die.

Nocturne’s ability is not a mandatory trigger. Because her ability is optional, if you forget to use it when her trigger condition is met, you cannot back up once the game has progressed beyond the resolution of the action die’s ability. Also, if the trigger condition is met, but there are no legal targets, you will not be able to use her ability that turn.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Nocturne is a Mask type character card.
~ She has the Exiles affiliation.
~ She has a max dice of four.
~ This card is an Rare and is #99 of 124.

Official Sources

You can find the cross IP compatibility wording, here.
You can find more info about specific Keywords on the WizKids Keywords page.

Turn Order Summary Reference

Strategy and Opinion

Nocturne has an interesting ability, but because she requires a ‘legal’ target for the redirect, her ability can easily be avoided. You only need to play an action die that she can’t redirect before you play any other action die. The only difficulty in that strategy is getting multiple action dice on the same turn, unless your team is set up for such plays. She’s not expensive, but her defense is kinda terrible because a Cold Gun can easily blast her out of the field on any of her levels.

I like her for drafts and limited constructed events, but as far as Modern Age or Golden Age constructed, I don’t think she’s as useful as other cards. Scarlet Witch: Careful What You Wish For and Bishop: Butterfly Effect are two highly useful cards that I would use over Nocturne.

Fun fact – Nocturne is from not from Earth 616 (Earth Prime). She’s the daughter of Nightcrawler and Scarlet Witch from Earth 2182.

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

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Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look atThe Kyln: Pangalactic Prisonfrom the Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy set.

Ruling – Ability

“Continuous: Players must spend [1 Generic Energy] more to purchase each character die for every character die in their Field Zone.”

WizKids Keywords page has the definition for Continuous:

“Continuous: Actions with Continuous move from the Reserve Pool to the Field Zone and can stay there at the end of the turn. Sometimes they’ll send themselves to the Used Pile for an effect whenever you could use a Global Ability.”

The Kyln does not need to be activated in order to gain the benefit of its ability. Each Kyln die that you have in the Field Zone will automatically apply its ability. For every Kyln die you have in the Field Zone, your opponent will need to pay one additional generic energy for each character die in their Field Zone, when they purchase a character die.

For example: If I have two Kyln dice in the Field Zone and my opponent has three character dice in the Field Zone, they will need to pay an additional six energy to purchase a character die.

The Kyln will apply its ability to both players, not just the opposing player. Generic energy can be paid with any type of energy.

The Kyln dice will not leave the Field Zone on their own. To remove a Kyln die from the Field Zone, a player would need to use an ability on a card like Bleez: Controlled Rage or Oni: Greater Giant.

The Kyln’s ability places something like a tax on the purchase of a character die. This ability does not alter the printed cost of a character die.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ The Kyln is a Shield type non-basic card.
~ It does not have an affiliation.
~ It has a max dice of four.
~ This card is an Common and is #37 of 124.

Official Sources

You can find the cross IP compatibility wording, here.
You can find more info about specific Keywords on the WizKids Keywords page.

Turn Order Summary Reference

Strategy and Opinion

I do not like playing against this card at all. I would rather play against it than a Bard though! Bards aside, this card is devastating to teams that need character dice in the Field while still trying to purchase more character dice. Just one character on your side and three Kyln on the Field will tax the purchase of a character die for three additional energy, making that two cost Guy Gardner ultimately cost you five instead. That’s really painful and Kyln is only two to purchase. The Kyln is a very nasty card and I wouldn’t be surprised if it showed up on teams in various metas. If someone is trying to make a Satchel team work, Kyln is likely going to be a go-to for that team. For all the nasty that this card brings, you can still play around it by not fielding too many character dice while you’re still trying to purchase character dice.

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Need to look up a card? Be sure to check out DM RetroBox! It’s the best searchable card database I’ve found for when I’m at the computer.

Greetings Fellow Clix Fans!

Before I get into this, I have to send a huge thank you to WizKids for giving me the opportunity to preview these two products for all my fellow Clix fans. Thank you, WizKids!

I’m a huge Star Trek fan and I’ve always loved the Tactics sets, but I really wanted to play Clix with characters that I know and love. I was super excited when I first heard about the Away Team booster set and I can’t wait to get my hands on some of those pieces too! The Away Team set has a corresponding starter, Dice and Token Pack, Premium Map, and a Release Day OP Kit too! I can’t express how much excitement I have for this set and that Premium Map is going to be a must have, for me. I plan to do videos and articles on any of those products that I can get my hands on! You can always find out what releases are coming up on the Solicits page, but remember, those dates are usually tentative until they set a day.

But, I received this Star Trek Away Team Starter and Dice & Token Pack early so that I can preview it for everyone to can see how cool these pieces are and how much fun it’s going to be to put together a team of your favorite Star Trek TOS characters!

You can find my Preview and Unboxing video for these items on my YouTube channel, here.

Dice & Token Pack

I love Dice & Token Packs, especially when they have characters I love on the tokens and really awesome icons on the dice! This is probably one of my favorite D&T Packs to date, rivaling the TMNT D&T Pack. Don’t make me choose between them!

I adore these tokens and the dice are very pretty. Looking at the dice makes me feel like I’m looking into space. The yellow pips are like stars and the shimmering swirl pattern in the dice look like stardust. I wish my pictures did justice to these awesome looking dice!

I had a hard time getting a decent shot of the tokens because Kirk’s token wanted to outshine all the other tokens and you couldn’t make out the picture in any shot. Kirk’s foil is super shiny.

Fun Fact: Most of the main crew is represented, except for Chekov. But Chekov didn’t enter the show until the second season. All the crew that’s represented on a token were the main crew members from season one.

Starter

There are lots of items in the starter, as listed on the back of the package. The updated Rulebook and Powers and Abilities Card is a huge bonus for folks like me that only buy particular starters. It also comes with three sheets of cardboard tokens. You get one sheet of objects and two identical sheets of terrain markers.

You will also find a double sided map with “Gorn Fight” on one side and “Forgotten Planet” on the other side. Both maps are outdoor and have hindering, elevated, and blocking terrain, but the Forgotten Planet side also has water terrain. You can click on the images below to get a better look at the maps.

The starter comes with the six characters that also appear on the tokens in the Dice & Token Pack. I love that! We have Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Mr. Scott, Dr. McCoy, Lt. Uhura, and Lt. Sulu.

All of the characters have the same Team Ability called United Federation of Planets. It says: When this character is given a MOVE action, modify speed +1. This makes the lowest movement total an eight. That seems decent for characters in a starter.

Each of the supporting crew members has an ability that enhances the entire team, including themselves. Mr. Spock modifies attack +1, Mr. Scott modifies damage +1, Dr. McCoy modifies defense +1, Lt. Uhura modifies range +1, and Lt. Sulu modifies speed +1. Captain Kirk is the only one without an ability like that, but he has the an ability when he’s KO’d to potentially deal two damage to every opposing character on the map and then come back on his last click!

Mr. Spock is the only one that’s Indomitable, but all the other characters have Willpower on their first click. This is very helpful for the first turn or two to get your pieces into position. Lt. Uhura also has Perplex starting out which is incredibly useful. Captain Kirk has Leadership on his first click, which gives you a +1 to your action total, allowing you extra positioning capability in the early stages of the game. There are great abilities on all the characters and all the abilities are thematic to the characters, such as Mr. Scott having Telekinesis and Dr. McCoy having Support on every click.

These pieces are definitely tons of fun to play with. I’ve tested them out and thoroughly enjoyed them. I played against a constructed TMNT Ally team and even though I didn’t defeat them, I didn’t go down easy! It was a good game and I took out several opposing pieces. I can’t wait to test this starter team out again and I definitely can’t wait to get my hands on the boosters!

If you’re a new player, I highly recommend this starter. Each character has their own way of helping the team out, which is very thematic to Star Trek. All the character abilities are thematic for the characters too and that’s something I love to see! It makes fans of the show more excited to play with these characters and it also helps teach team tactics to new players.

I also wanted to mention that the sculpts on these pieces are really great. Kirk and Sulu have the same body sculpt, but their heads are different sculpts. It appears that WizKids has put in a great deal of attention to the detail of these pieces, making them more enjoyable to play with, but also worth having for a collection. One of my favorite details has to be the Starfleet badge insignias. It’s very hard to see these tiny details, but the yellow command and blue science shirts have the insignia on their badges that’s accurate to their divisions. The two red shirts are too small for me to see and it’s really hard to make out anything on Mr. Scott’s badge because his arm is in the way. Lt. Uhura appears to have the command logo on her badge, but I can’t see it that well, so I’m not completely sure. Even if it’s not the operations logo, the fact that WizKids made at least two different decals for these figures is cool. Kudos to WizKids on that!

This starter is making my inner fan girl squeak with joy! I’m so excited for the boosters and I really can’t wait to get that premium map!

Be sure to check out my unboxing video and remember to subscribe and follow my social media!

Thanks for reading and watching! As the holidays approach, I hope that everyone has a wonderful time and is surrounded by love!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

The Inhumans have become increasingly popular in recent years thanks to shows like Agents of Shield and now Inhumans. Regardless of whether or not you like those shows, they have spurred the interest of folks to check out the source material. I admittedly was never versed on the Inhumans, but thanks to Agents of Shield, began delving into the lore and history of this group of awesome characters.

The Inhumans vs X-Men comic event is one of my favorite Marvel events in recent comic history. It was the event that brought the Inhumans back into the forefront of Marvel’s comic world for many of myself and local fellow comic fans. Because of IvX, I sought out the Uncanny Inhumans comics and wasn’t disappointed with them.

You can probably imagine my excitement when I saw some Inhumans in the Deadpool set. I built an Inhumans affiliated team with the three affiliated characters as the core of the team. It’s definitely not competitive, but it’s lots of fun to play and that’s what matters! But now, with the cards in this OP Kit, I have new options to play around with for that team!

Participation Prize – Black Bolt: …

Participation cards are usually given to all players that participate in the event. I usually give out the participation prizes to all players, even if they received one from the previous OP event. This may be different at each venue based on how many players and kits the store has available.

This is a direct reprint of the common card from the Deadpool set. While this card is fun to toy around with, I actually prefer the rare version from the same set, Black Bolt: King of the Inhumans. One of the great things about this card is that he can target himself and boost his attack by three, making him a six attack on level one and two and an eight attack on level three. That’s definitely helpful if you have a way to make him unblockable or your opponent just doesn’t have any blockers in the Field.

This card would be fun to pair with the Madame Web: The Great Web Unravels and Adam Warlock: Standing Watch Over Infinity combo from the Guardians of the Galaxy set. With those two cards, you can potentially clear their entire Field of characters while Black Bolt runs over and smacks your opponent for six or eight damage each turn he’s fielded. This is a build I’ve been thinking about working on for local casual play.

He’s a fun card, and you get a copy just for showing up to the event! I absolutely love this artwork for Black Bolt too. The newest Black Bolt titled comic has some very pretty and unique artwork as well that I’d love to see on a card.

Fellowship Prize – Lockjaw: LJ

The Fellowship Prize is an additional prize for a player, usually one that hasn’t won another prize yet. We used to take votes, but that took way too long. Now, we have each player (except the first place player) roll a D20 in the order of their standings and the player that rolls the highest number, gets the Fellowship card. We also require that players be present to be able to roll for the Fellowship Prize. Some stores give the Fellowship Prize to the player in last place and I’ve even seen stores draw names from a bucket. How you determine the Fellowship player is different for each venue so check with your FLGS to see how they choose their Fellowship player.

Lockjaw: LJ is a new card that uses the same die as the Lockjaw cards from the Deadpool set. This art is the cutest! The ability is really cool too, but my hangup is with his purchase cost. Lockjaw’s purchase costs from the Deadpool set are three and four. The version I prefer is the rare, Lockjaw: King’s Best Friend and his purchase cost is three. Since all of Black Bolt and Medusa’s purchase costs are four and five, I can’t see myself playing this version of Lockjaw in Modern Age. His ability is definitely worth the cost, but still too expensive for the current selection of Inhumans.

In Golden Age events, there are ways to discount dice and I could see him being much more fun to play in casual Golden Age events. There are a wider selection of utility cards too that would make a team like that more fun to play with.

First Place Prize – Medusa: Devoted Wife

The first place cards are given to the player that wins the event. These cards are typically new cards and not alternate art or reprint cards.

Medusa: Devoted Wife is a new card that uses the same die as the Medusa cards from the Deadpool set. Her art is absolutely gorgeous! I was floored when I saw how stunning this card was in person. As for her ability, I love the Deadly keyword on my Medusa cards because it’s very thematic. My favorite Medusa from the Deadpool set is Medusa: Tangled Up. That card ability is by far, the most thematic of all the Medusa card abilities. She has Deadly and the ability to block one or two attacking character dice. This OP Medusa card is also thematic in that she gives Black Bolt the Iron Will keyword.

I do have a major issue, but not with this card. My issue is that all the Black Bolt abilities are When Fielded abilities. Typically when you have a character with a When Fielded ability, you want to either KO them or cycle them quickly through your bag so you can utilize their ability as much as possible. Medusa’s ability is perfect for a character that needs to stay active, but not for one that you want to cycle. I hope WizKids prints a Black Bolt with an ability that will benefit from this Medusa because she’s not a bad card at all.

Note – This Medusa will not grant King Black Bolt: Ruler of Attilan the Iron Will keyword. The card title must be Black Bolt and his title is King Black Bolt. You can find the ruling for this on WORF (WizKids Official Rules Forum).

If you’re not familiar with Deadly or Iron Will, you can find definitions on the WizKids Keywords page.

Conclusion

I love the cards in this OP Kit. Lockjaw may not be my favorite of all the Lockjaw cards, but his art is so cute! Black Bolt and Medusa have art that’s both beautiful and powerful. I would have liked for Black Bolt to have a different ability that would have worked with Medusa, instead of a reprint from Deadpool. They’ve made all new cards in an OP Kit before and I honestly don’t mind reprinted cards with alternate art. I just really want a Black Bolt that I feel is more synergistic with this amazing new Medusa.

For a collector, these are “must have” cards. If you’re looking for the newest and hottest meta cards, this is not the OP Kit you’re looking for. These cards could have some trade value for collectors, so I wouldn’t pass up a chance to play in one or more of these OP events if there are some near you. These cards could be great for casual play too depending on your play style. I think they’re definitely worth the time and effort to obtain.

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